It would be improper not to mention, that Captain William Bligh was a native of this parish, who commanded the Bounty in the unfortunate expedition to procure plants of the Bread-fruit tree (Artocarpus) from the South Sea Islands in the years 1789 and 1790; but which object he effected in a second voyage, and afterwards received the appointment of Governor of New Holland.
There does not appear to be any remains of the College or habitation appropriated to the Canons, who from receiving
certain shares of the tithe for their maintenance, were sometimes called Portionists. The Church is conjectured to have been built in the reign of Henry the Seventh, from the circumstances of his arms appearing there in a manner to denote them coeval with the fabric.
There are several monuments, and among them one to Mr. William Phillipps, probably father of the gentleman who removed to Camelford as an attorney, and grandfather to the three brothers mentioned above. He is stated to have been of Treveans, and to have died on the 12th of April 1712, in the 62d year of his age. The turnpike road leading from St. Columb by Wade Bridge and Camelford to Launceston, nearly surrounds this Church. It was for some years the great line of communication to the west of Cornwall, till in 1767 a commencement was made on a more direct line over Tregoss Moors on one side of Bodmin, and Temple Moors on the other. This road so entirely superseded the former as to cause an entire loss of capital to those who contributed towards making it; and the road itself fell back into a state of repair inferior to that of most parish roads. It has, however, recently been taken up as a new concern, and in 1835 a stage coach has been established on it.
The Editor has heard from the Rev. William Phillipps, who died in 1794, that the making of this road was taken up as a matter of patriotism; and that to assist the undertaking, he cut with his own hands the figures on the granite mile stones, which still remain.
The entry of this parish, in the Taxation of Pope Nicholas, mm is thus:
“Sech (and in a note, Eccƚia S[~c]e Thete) taxat’ ut sequitur.
| £. | s. | d. | ||
| Prebend’ Mag’ri Osbti | 4 | 10 | 0 | |
| Prebend’ Mag’ri W. de Wymondeston | 4 | 10 | 0 | |
| Vicar’ ejusdem | 1 | 0 | 0 | ” |
St. Teath measures 4,721 statute acres.
| £. | s. | d. | |
| Annual value of the Real Property as returned to Parliament in 1815 | 5,401 | 0 | 0 |
| Poor Rate in 1831 | 800 | 2 | 0 |